Mums getting older: 13% of post-millennial mothers aged over 35

Getting pregnant after the age of 35 increases the risk of high blood pressure, gestational diabetes and caesarean delivery, a study published in the Malta Medical Journal shows.

The study analysed 55,943 single-birth pregnancies between 2000 and 2014. These included 6,838 mothers aged between 35-39 years and 1,325 mothers aged 40 years and older. These accounted for 13% of all 61,365 births in this period.

The study excluded mothers giving multiple births (1,917) and those who were under 20 years of age (3,410).

The study indicates that the number of mothers aged between 35 and 40 has increased consistently from less than 400 in 2005 to nearly 700 in 2014.

The authors of the study contend that women should be supported in their decisions on when to plan childbearing. They also propose the set-up of a multi-disciplinary specialised clinic for pre-conception, ante-natal and post-natal care for these mothers aimed at improving the outcome in pregnancies of over-35-year-old women.

“Accordingly, women should be counselled regarding how fertility and pregnancy outcomes change with age”.

The study found that 4% of women aged over 35 and 5% of women aged over 40 suffered from gestational diabetes up from just 1.5% among 20 to 24-year-old mothers.

Gestational diabetes is the result of high blood sugar that develops during pregnancy and usually disappears after giving birth.

The incidence of induced hypertension (increased blood pressure during pregnancy) increased from 5.4% among 20 to 24-year-olds to 10.9% among over 40-year-olds.

The risks faced by over-35-year-old mothers increase with weight. In this study 26.4% of pregnant women were overweight and 16.5% were obese. “The combination of Advanced Maternal Age and an elevated Body Mass Index increase the risk for the occurrence of gestational diabetes.”

The percentage of women delivering by normal vaginal delivery was noted to decrease with advancing age. In mothers over 35 years, an increase was also noted in the rate of emergency caesarean sections. The study suggests that one reason for the higher rate of induced childbirths could be a greater caution on the part of obstetrics when dealing with older women.

The study was authored by Mandy Collict and Yves Muscat Baron from the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology and Miriam Gatt and Neville Calleja from the Directorate of Health Information and Research.